U.S. Monitors Will Oversee Newark Voting

By RICHARD LEZIN JONES

Published: May 11, 2002

NEWARK, May 10—
Citing concerns about violence and voter irregularities, the United States attorney here said today that he would dispatch federal observers to monitor polling places during Tuesday's hotly contested mayoral election.

Those observers will join more than a dozen state troopers, teams of sheriff's deputies, county Board of Elections officials, 2,000 field workers for the two campaigns, and more than 100 lawyers already scheduled to check for voter harassment or fraud.

Although state and local observers customarily monitor local elections here, officials said it was the first time that federal observers would be used in a Newark election and one of only a handful of occasions in which they have been used in municipal elections anywhere in the country.

The heightened efforts to watch the vote may indicate the significance of Tuesday's contest between Mayor Sharpe James and Councilman Cory A. Booker. They are also a gauge of the concern in both camps that the vitriol that has escalated during the campaign may reach its apex as voters head to the polls.

The United States attorney, Christopher J. Christie, said he was moved to appoint federal observers after reading news accounts of political dirty tricks by supporters of both Mr. James and Mr. Booker.

''We've come to this conclusion after being in this city for the last number of months,'' Mr. Christie said, ''observing some incidents that have been reported in the press regarding the election, and wanting to make sure first and foremost that all the people in Newark who legally are eligible to vote and want to vote have the free and unfettered opportunity to vote.''

He said the decision to send the observers was not made at the request of either candidate, but that both men welcomed it. The monitors -- he refused to say how many -- would receive training from a Justice Department official and would work in tandem with state observers, Mr. Christie said.

The state attorney general, David Samson, pledged that as many as 10 deputy attorneys general would come to Newark on Tuesday. The deputies will be ''on hand to deal with any emergent legal matters related to the voting,'' said a spokesman for Mr. Samson, Lee C. Moore.

They will join at least 15 state troopers and several groups of officers from the Essex County Sheriff's Department who will be at polling places and field offices during the election.

The added presence of the federal monitors strikes some as reminiscent of another political age.

''What it conjures in my mind are visions of the South and the civil rights era,'' said David P. Rebovich, a political science professor at Rider University. ''And I'm sure it's embarrassing to the people of Newark.''

Embarrassing, perhaps, but necessary, officials say, after a contentious campaign season that included break-ins at campaign headquarters, shoving matches at political forums and a series of anonymous mailings disparaging each candidate.

Such episodes have not abated in the campaign's final days. On Wednesday, four men -- including an aide to Mr. James -- were arrested and charged with removing and destroying Booker campaign signs.

''There have been body blows on both sides,'' said Richard McGrath, a spokesman for Mr. James's campaign. ''But politics in Newark is a contact sport. We have confidence in election officials and law enforcement officers in Newark to monitor the election, but we also have no problem with outside observers.''

Mr. Booker said, ''We want to see a safe election, we want to see a fair election and we want to see Newarkers speak out for what they want in the future.''

Although both campaigns have traded charges of unfair electioneering, Mr. Booker's people have complained more loudly about possible violations. The councilman's supporters note that the mayor, a four-term incumbent, is at the helm of a powerful political machine that dominates city politics.

After a bruising campaign with Mr. James, who has held some elected office or another for as long as the 33-year-old Mr. Booker has been alive, his workers had planned a series of Election Day checks and balances even before today's announcement.

Besides having about 1,000 volunteer field workers spread over the city's 121 polling places (Mr. James's campaign will field at least as many), Mr. Booker's campaign has also enlisted the help of about 100 lawyers who will be prepared to handle voter problems and any legal challenges.

''Maybe it's overkill,'' said Aney K. Chandy, a lawyer for Mr. Booker's campaign. ''Maybe we're being a little overzealous, but I'd much prefer being overcautious than suffer any inequity.''

Mr. Christie said the added monitoring would be well worth it. ''Whoever is elected mayor on Tuesday, there cannot be the thought in the minds of the public that there was anything unfair about the election.''

Photo: The United States attorney in New Jersey, Christopher J. Christie. (Keith Meyers/The New York Times)(pg. B4)